Thailand bans commercial, same-sex surrogacy

Thailand through a Bill passed by the National Legislative Assembly on Thursday outlawed commercial surrogacy.

Surrogacy entails another woman carrying and giving birth to a baby for the couple who want to have a child.

An official report on Friday in Bangkok, said the Bill also prohibited non-Thai couples and all same-sex couples from accessing any surrogacy services in the Kingdom.

It said under the new law, only married heterosexual couples with at least one Thai partner can use surrogates, adding that it must be of free service.

Thailand previously had no law governing surrogacy, making the country a destination for foreign couples seeking a surrogate mother.

The country re-examined the laws following a public outcry in 2014 when a surrogate baby with Down's syndrome was left with his surrogate mother by an Australian couple who took the girl's brother.